Butterflies: Symbols of Hope

Butterflies are symbols of hope. That is the reason we see so many quilts with butterfly motives that were made during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Butterflies continue to be popular on quilts  today. This file will show a few examples.

     Poem #1521

The butterfly upon the Sky,
That doesn't know its Name
  And hasn't any tax to pay
   And hasn't any Home

Is just as high as you and I,
  And higher, I believe.
So soar away and never sigh
And that's the way to grieve-

Emily Dickinson

               ###

Miniature quilt with Batik Butterflies made by Patricia Cummings

The butterfly is a happy sight and one which uplifts the human soul. The number of "butterfly" quilts I have seen, both in person and in books, is absolutely astounding. Most of these quilts date from the Great Depression, a period of economic downturn that began with the crash of the stock market in 1929, leading to tough times in the 1930s and best summed up by the folk song, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" Unemployed people scrambled to find jobs, some of them make-work projects sponsored by the New Deal's Works in Progress Administration (the W.P.A.).

"Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without" became the slogan of the decade, as women, for the sake of economy, removed shirt collars, turned them, and sewed them on again, with the good side "up" to make the shirts last a little longer. At the same time, they patched children's clothes and often constructed new coats for younger children by cutting out good fabric from older siblings' outerwear, as my grandmother did.

"Butterflies of Happiness" is an appliqued summer coverlet I found to purchase in Vermont

Applique Butterflies

Quilting must have been a welcome respite in the everyday lives of women. Those who had access to a lot of different cotton scraps, or fabrics they picked up from the floors of mills where they worked, would piece or applique quilts. Several companies are responsible for the pieced butterfly designs of the times. Home Arts Magazine published a pieced butterfly pattern in 1928. The Kansas City Star published the design, "Butterfly" in 1936, according to Barbara Brackman's Blockbase software program.

Admittedly, some of the applique butterfly quilts I have seen are very crudely done as if the quilt maker were just doing something to keep her hands busy but her thoughts were preoccupied. Often the butterflies are attached to a background cloth with buttonhole stitch in black embroidery floss. Frequently the edges were left raw and were not turned under, protected only by the embroidery stitches around them.

Sometimes old blankets were used for the interior of quilts, instead of commercially-produced batting. Other times, there is no filler at all. The edges are turned over a couple of times and then stitched down by machine. At times, there is only a separate cotton backing that may or may not be secured with knotted "ties."

Carol Milford's Butterfly Quilt based on a Quilter's Muse pattern

One of the readers of my former website, Carol Milford, created a quilt (shown above) from a pattern I had offered for sale. She added some smaller butterflies. We love the colors she chose!

A pair of Monarch butterflies cavort among the Chrysanthemums
photo by James Cummings

Butterfly as a Symbol

The butterfly is often used to symbolize the human soul. Sometimes, don't we all wish we could just take flight and remove ourselves far away from our earthly woes?

Patricia Cummings
August 9, 2018